Shift 2: Unleashed

 Xbox 360
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 113 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 113
  2. Mixed: 45 out of 113
  3. Negative: 20 out of 113
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  1. Bigredd77
    Nov 13, 2011
    8
    Once again a fun semi-sim arcade being mistaken for a sim, this is not Forza 3 or Forza 4 (which I own and love) but this one is fun and is meant for casual gaming. The drift portion of the game is pretty fun and more proof this is an arcady game. It does what it does well and handling has been improved from Shift (1) Worth it if you can pick it up for $30-$35
  2. MajorBrusselsXI
    Apr 16, 2011
    9
    Shift 2 is definitely one of the better racing games out there and in my opinion, is an improvement upon Shift 1. Drifting events have been made easier, graphics are good, and there is a variety of good looking cars. I think the single-player is a bit too long though, especially as there are over 5 endurance races that last 20 laps! But still, it's a very enjoyable racer and one of theShift 2 is definitely one of the better racing games out there and in my opinion, is an improvement upon Shift 1. Drifting events have been made easier, graphics are good, and there is a variety of good looking cars. I think the single-player is a bit too long though, especially as there are over 5 endurance races that last 20 laps! But still, it's a very enjoyable racer and one of the best around. Not sure it will beat DiRT3 though...… Expand
  3. DLB008
    Apr 4, 2011
    10
    I nearly didn't buy this because shift 1 had the worst handling of any driving game i've ever played. This however has GREAT handling, exciting races, a good difficulty curve and wonderful cars. The single player game reminds me of PGR2 (which in my eyes is the best racing game ever). you do a series of events with different cars at different tracks from around the world. Normal races,I nearly didn't buy this because shift 1 had the worst handling of any driving game i've ever played. This however has GREAT handling, exciting races, a good difficulty curve and wonderful cars. The single player game reminds me of PGR2 (which in my eyes is the best racing game ever). you do a series of events with different cars at different tracks from around the world. Normal races, elimination, hot-lap, drifting are all here and the variety is great. If you are thinking of buying this but didn't quite like shift 1 then my advice is give it a try. I'm glad i did!… Expand
  4. Karthik7Nike
    Apr 2, 2011
    9
    SHIFT 2 : Unleashed is for ONLY those gamers who:
    1. Love the **** View and Helmet Cam View
    2. Aren't Bent on the game being a complete simulation or complete arcade. This game is a mix of both and it does so very well. THE BEST Driving Experience you can get in the market now! Might not be as obsessive and realistic as Forza 3 or Gran Turismo 5, but it delivers a very authentic driving    SHIFT 2 : Unleashed is for ONLY those gamers who:
    1. Love the **** View and Helmet Cam View
    2. Aren't Bent on the game being a complete simulation or complete arcade.

    This game is a mix of both and it does so very well. THE BEST Driving Experience you can get in the market now! Might not be as obsessive and realistic as Forza 3 or Gran Turismo 5, but it delivers a very authentic driving feel that is completely out of the world. Very Interesting soundtrack mix, but it just works! The songs that play once you win a race are really good but might get repetitive. FMV sequences could've been better. Car Models are excellently modeled and car sounds are mindblowing! Great Game! overall. but it's only for a certain group of gamers. NOT SUITABLE for every gamer.    … Expand
  5. Lamyaaadkins
    Apr 11, 2011
    10
    Pure real racing!People,review companies,ect.. review this game on its pure nature of racing.It's a perfect 10 if you really do that.Play a lap with Forza 3 then GTR 5 then Shift 1 then play this game.The straight up racing part of this game is perfect for a racing game in 2011.Of course there will be a patch for some problems at launch in the game so I don't even look at that.I will say aPure real racing!People,review companies,ect.. review this game on its pure nature of racing.It's a perfect 10 if you really do that.Play a lap with Forza 3 then GTR 5 then Shift 1 then play this game.The straight up racing part of this game is perfect for a racing game in 2011.Of course there will be a patch for some problems at launch in the game so I don't even look at that.I will say a perfect 10 now and 5 years from now.This is racing,this is what those guys go through every day,not bouncing off of walls to win a race in Gran Turismo 5.Or finding some nice girls that someone made with the vinyl editor in Forza 3.I love both of those games for different reasons but this takes the cake for me!Great game 10… Expand
  6. wadad17
    Apr 3, 2011
    8
    First lets get one thing straight. The game is Realistic, as in all the cars handle differentally, from shift speeds, braking distance, Grip to the road, everything. So if your car isnt handling the way you want, such as drift, make sure your using the right car. A FWD car cant drift, so make sure its a RWD(Ryan15x). Now the game is good. You can take a simple car and turn it into yourFirst lets get one thing straight. The game is Realistic, as in all the cars handle differentally, from shift speeds, braking distance, Grip to the road, everything. So if your car isnt handling the way you want, such as drift, make sure your using the right car. A FWD car cant drift, so make sure its a RWD(Ryan15x). Now the game is good. You can take a simple car and turn it into your car. From tuning, mechanics, and cosmetic. The game is exciting, and has alot of depth. I found myself leaning from left to right, and could feel my heart drop when i was mere inches from hitting the wall. Your car feels like its really going fast, unlike GT5 where it says your going 100+ MPH, yet the Kid in the stands is out running you on his way to the restroom. The AutoLog from the previous NFS game is back and adds some replay value and comptetion. I found a few things i didnt like. Such as the AI sticking strictly to the guide line. You could easily abuse this, ecspecially on S turns. The absolute biggest complaint is the soundtrack. There is only 1, yes 1 song in the entire game. I acutally have it stuck in my head. Luckly my MP3 has alot of the songs from older NFS soundtracks. Beyond the crap music, i mean the crappy single song, the game is enjoyable. NFS may be leaving the whole Underground Fast and Furious stage behind, but i personally dont thing thats such a bad thing. I like it, and hope they try to improve on this formula in the future.… Expand
  7. Gamer44
    May 27, 2011
    10
    okay this game is off the hook brilliantly done and totally awesome the depth of detail almost makes it feel like you're sitting in the drivers seat I love the helmet cam brilliant idea. The detail they put into the game is wow the detail in the cars looks fantastic the entire game looks and feels fantastic the driving is easy and even if you're a beginner you will find the driving easyokay this game is off the hook brilliantly done and totally awesome the depth of detail almost makes it feel like you're sitting in the drivers seat I love the helmet cam brilliant idea. The detail they put into the game is wow the detail in the cars looks fantastic the entire game looks and feels fantastic the driving is easy and even if you're a beginner you will find the driving easy once again EA dit a brilliant job with shift 2 unleashed I remember playing need for speed for the first time on my pc 10 yrs ago and to be honest need for speed on the console is much better than on the pc if I could give this game a 100 I would but it truly deserves a 10.

    This is once again one of my favourite need for speed games and can't wait for need for speed:The Run it already sounds awesome and knowing EA they will deliver a stunning game once again    … Expand
  8. philgreg
    Aug 27, 2011
    9
    The main concern about this game is that it takes a lot of tweaking to get it working properly. I have never played it with a controller so I cannot comment about how it drives with one, but with a wheel one has to do many adjustments to get it to feel correct. Because of this I would not recommend this game to someone who wants to just pick it up and go. If you have patience and areThe main concern about this game is that it takes a lot of tweaking to get it working properly. I have never played it with a controller so I cannot comment about how it drives with one, but with a wheel one has to do many adjustments to get it to feel correct. Because of this I would not recommend this game to someone who wants to just pick it up and go. If you have patience and are looking for a solid simulator using a wheel, then I would highly recommend this game.

    There are a few problems I see that people keep complaining about in this game. 1) It is too hard. One must understand that the Shift series is a simulation based racing game, not arcade like most NFS games.

    2) Cars are impossible to drive or they don't feel like they should. This is a problem most people are complaining about. The main underlying cause of this is the car setup. For some strange reason the stock set up of every car has the spring rates at 0 and the tire pressure at 50 or so. Due to this, it makes all the cars feel like they are boats. With this floppy set up it makes the car very unstable and uncontrollable in a corner or a slide. To fix this problem one must tune the tire pressure down to around 30 and purchase a suspension that can adjust spring stiffness and adjust it to at least 3 for normal cars and higher for race cars. Every car has to be fixed in this way, which can be annoying to some. After they are fixed you will find that Shift 2 has extremely good physics and car dynamics.

    There are many internal settings for the wheel that can be adjusted, this makes Shift 2 more dynamic and customizable if you know how to adjust these settings properly. I found that the easiest way to adjust the wheel is to set it up so that it drives and turns properly with a normal car, which will have the highest degree of turn. After that, one must go to tune setup for every car to adjust the steering sensitivity for that particular car. The higher one tunes the sensitivity on a car, the less one has to turn the wheel to make that particular car turn. By doing this one can adjust race cars to turn with less degree of movement in the wheel than normal cars, without having to readjust the wheel every time you change cars.

    In conclusion there is a very good game hiding inside Shift 2 but it takes some adjustments and digging to find. If you have to patience to work out the problems then it is a fun and solid racing game.    … Expand
  9. Jobadkins
    Apr 6, 2011
    9
    First,its not better then Shift 1, getting that out of the way, this game is very different then the original.For what it's trying to accomplish it succeeds on every level.While GTR 5 and forza 3 are amazing in different ways and you need both of those games because for every thing you want in each game that is missing the other one has it so that's that.This game shows you the terrifyingFirst,its not better then Shift 1, getting that out of the way, this game is very different then the original.For what it's trying to accomplish it succeeds on every level.While GTR 5 and forza 3 are amazing in different ways and you need both of those games because for every thing you want in each game that is missing the other one has it so that's that.This game shows you the terrifying part of racing which no other game shows you, they just show you the nice and dandy parts which is fine but neither rival game shows you the fear that comes along with racing and what these racers go through,fearing for there life every race so on that note Shift 2 unleashed delivers all over the place with non stop grade A quality racing.I really think that they should of named this game differently because there is a lot of people that had there hopes up that are disappointed because it doesn't have the feel of the first game, just here and there.I think on that note the game would of been more highly rated then it is.I give this game a 9.5,I'm knocking off half of point for not having the few bugs that are present during game play but I'm sure there will be a patch for download there always is nowadays that's what makes some companies lazier then before but that's a whole different topic.Great game 9.5… Expand
  10. Mmario
    Apr 4, 2011
    10
    ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss… Expand
  11. GreenSkullRider
    Mar 11, 2017
    8
    El primer Shift fue lo mas parecido a un Gran turismo o un Forza para la saga mítica Need For Speed. un juego lleno de detalles, simulación, competición y música espectacular. en esta segunda entrega dejan de lado mucha de aquella simulación para acercarse a un arcade con toques realistas. algo así como Project Gothan Racing 3. Un juego que bajo un par de escalones pero realmente sigueEl primer Shift fue lo mas parecido a un Gran turismo o un Forza para la saga mítica Need For Speed. un juego lleno de detalles, simulación, competición y música espectacular. en esta segunda entrega dejan de lado mucha de aquella simulación para acercarse a un arcade con toques realistas. algo así como Project Gothan Racing 3. Un juego que bajo un par de escalones pero realmente sigue siendo un juegazo. con buen plantel de vehiculos, largo y divertido. bastante recomendado.… Expand
  12. atyoukha
    Aug 1, 2022
    8
    It's fun and the handling is good and as a casual gamer I had no trouble playing it.

Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2011
51
#51 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011
78
#78 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 70 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 70
  3. Negative: 0 out of 70
  1. Gamer.no
    May 18, 2011
    80
    At its best, Shift 2 is one of the most intense and rewarding racing games around. There's some flaws (like the entire drifting part), but the overall package is really solid and fun.
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  2. XboxAddict
    May 13, 2011
    82
    While Shift 2 may not be as sim-heavy as Forza or arcade-like as Burnout, it does cut out its own groove in the genre with it's amazing helmet cam and driving aids that can be toggled to suit any racers experience or play style.
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  3. GamingExcellence
    May 11, 2011
    83
    Overall, Shift 2 Unleashed is a fantastic driving game that should satisfy fans on either side of the arcade/simulation spectrum. The game may not be as sheer fun as Hot Pursuit was only six months ago, but could easily occupy a cherished spot on your shelf right next to it.
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